Garment bag



June 6, 1944. v J. G. JOHNSTON 2,350,901

GARMENT BAG Filed Jan. 2, 1940 I 7 IINVENTOR. ciameafdofiflgton/ & BY

' ATTORNEY.

Patented June 6, 1944 GARMENT escv James G. Johnston, Chicago, Ill., assignor to 'lhe Warren Featherbone 00., corporation of Michigan Three Oaks, Michl, a

Application January 2, 1940, Serial No. 311,971

1 Claim. (011206 7) This invention relates to improvements in garment bags of the more permanent variety used for the protection of gowns, dresses or clothes of either sex worn seasonally or only occasionally, and more particularly to the construction of. the frame which supports the garments and the protective covering. 7

Bags of the general style herein disclosed are not new, being readily recognizable as a fulllength voluminous bag hung upon a supporting frame and opening along one side to receive one, two or more garments which are first draped over an ordinary garment hanger and then suspended from a cross-bar within the bag. These bags are provided with one and preferably two hooks passing through the upper end of the bag material and intended to be hooked over a horizontal rod or other closet fixture from which the bag may be suspended.

It so happens that the improved frame construction adds little or nothing to the bag as a garment protector although it does materially improve its merit as an article of merchandise, and especially from the standpoint of packaging and display. This may appear to be a rather insignificant feature to the user, but to the merchant an article which can be effectively displayed and conveniently handled by the sales persons is much to be preferred over articles that easily become disarranged and are continually falling from the counter. Andso in the marketing of these garment bags they can be collapsed and folded flatwise upon the inner frame and, with the hook swivelled also to lie flatwise, each bag is then inserted in an envelope or wrapper and sealed.

But as the bag frames have been made heretofore, the cross-member which carries the suspension hook and also forms the rack on which the garments are hung, is offset from the plane of the main body of the frame, so that with the latter supporting the bag proper, the cross-bar is depressed below the top of the bag in order to facilitate the operation of passing the garment hanger hooks over the rack. But the offset crossbar is objectionable because the bags cannot be packaged without forming a distinct hump midway of its ends on one side, and when several of these packaged bags are piled or stacked on a counter it is very difiicult to prevent them sliding onto the floor, much to the annoyance of the sales person, not to mention the wear and tear on the bags themselves.

Therefore, the object of the invention is to obviate the objectionable features of the ordinary garment bag by providing a frame which will permit all of its'parts or sections to be folded flat for packaging and thence to be extended with its cross-member depressed in the actof suspending the bag for the'reception of garments.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment bag ready for use;

Figure Z is a perspective view of a bag pack.-

aged for'sale;- a

Figure 3 is an enlargedperspective view of the supportingfr'ame removed from the bag;

Figure 41s a detail view of the frame as taken on a transverse line of Figure 3; V v

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing theframe as it is being folded fiatwise preparatory to the packaging of a bag; and

Figure 6 is a detail view in section as taken on line 6B to show the mounting of the book.

As shown in Figure 1, the complete bag consists of an envelope I made of a suitable fabric or other sheet material, the same being tailored at its ends to give it a box-like appearance. Within the upper-end of the bag or envelope I is a skeleton frame 2 (Figure 3), the only part visible from the outside being a hook 3 passing through a small hole preferably reinforced by a grommet 4 set into the top wall of thebag. As shown, a single hook supports the bag upon the rod 5, although if desired two hooks spaced apart and toward the side margins of the envelope will prevent the angular tilting of the frame under the unequalized weight of the garments hung within the bag.

The frame 2 is preferably fashioned of a heavy wire and consists of a rectangular skeleton frame member 2 conforming to the contour of the upper end of the bag I, and a cross-bar 6 spanning the main frame member 2 midway between its ends.

The cross-bar 9 is fashioned in shallow U-form with the hook 3 mounted intermediate its ends. The end portions 6 6 of the cross-bar are bent substantially at right angles to its central portion and these define a plane which includes the hook 3 as well as a series of alternate humps and depressions in the cross-bar on either side of the hook.

And finally, the end portions 6*, 6 of the cross-bar have pivotal or hinged connection with rectangular frame member 2 at oppositely disposed points along its sides, the pivotal connections being made by bending the wire to form loops as at I, 1 and inserting the ends of the ,1 2, 01 Having set forth a preferred embodiment of cross-bar through the loops and bending them over. In this manner the cross-bar is free to swing through an angle of 180 or 90 in either direction from its normal vertical position below the plane of the frame member 2.

It need hardly be added that the cross-bar forms the rack from which the garments are suspended and the serpentine contour of the bar acts as a means for separating the hangers and prevent them from crowding toward one end.

The hook 3 may'have pivotal connections with the sales invention.

the cross-bar, although for practical reasons it may just as well be rigidly connected therewith so that it will not turn bodily about the bar.

In either case, a sleeve 8 is clamped around the cross bar and provides a swivel mounting for the portions of which form pockets for the reception of the hooks of coat hangers and the like,

, the central portion of said cross bar providing lower end of the hook so that it is free to turn about its shank as an axis.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, the frame 2 in the suspended position of the bag hangs with the rectangular member 2 in a horizontal plane and the cross-bar 6 in a vertical plane .with its central or rack portion offset below the plane of the frame member 2*. Also, the hook 3 stands upright and passes transversely over the rod on which the bag is suspended.

1 Now, in the original packaged state of the bag, as shown in Figure 2, the material of the bag is folded so that the 'package is the same length and widthras the rectangular member 2 of the frame, although its thickness isdetermined by the .nature of the envelope material.

In any case, the bags can be folded and compressed into a symmetrically shaped packages, cubical in shape and perfectly flat on all sides,

thus making it possible to stack them neatly on shelves or counters without danger of toppling over, or the topmost packaged bags sliding off onto the floor. The reasonfor this is the collapsible construction of the frame with its pivoted cross-bar and swivelled hook, both of which can be turned to lie in the plane of the rectangular frame member 2, as shown in Fi ures 2 and 5. Thus, with the improved formation of the frame, the displaying and merchandising of these garment bags is greatly simplified and expedited, and to this extent enhances their value as salable merchandise.

a substantially straight portion to provide a central bearing, the ends of the cross bars being. provided with looped portions pivotally embracing the looped portions of the sides of the wire frame whereby to pivotally unite the cross bar with the wire frame and whereby to permit said cross bar to swing so that the plane of its undulations lies relatively close to the plane of the wire frame and likewise to permit said cross bar to swing so that the plane of the undulations lies transverse to the plane of the wire frame in position to support the coat hangers and in which transverse position the lower pocket of each undulation extends substantially below the plane of the wire frame and below the point of pivot of the ends of the cross bar with the sides of the wire frame, whereby the pockets of said undulations are sufiiciently deep to maintain therein hooks of coat hangers or the like to depend from the frame, and a sleeve surrounding the central straight portion of the cross bar, said sleeve having an opening in its upper portion and a hook having its lower end inserted through the opening in the bearing and provided with a swivel mounting with respect to said bearing, whereby said cross bar and its undulations may be pivtion or when extended vertically with respect to the plane of the wire frame to be shifted to any desired angular position with respect thereto.

JAMES G. JOHNSTON. 

